TSUTA: THE WORLD’S FIRST MICHELIN RAMEN  

THE RESTAURANT 

Tsuta looks underwhelming from the outside, and the 8 seat dining area inside keeps with the modest atmosphere.  Still, lines wrap around the block daily, everyone waiting two hours on average for a chance to sit down and eat.  

No trip to Tokyo is complete without experiencing Tsuta, the world’s first Michelin Ramen. 

Alright, clearly there’s a lot talk about Tsuta, but does the food live up to the hype? 

When Yuki Onishi opened Tsuta in 2012, its popularity was imminent.  Within that first year, Tsuta was rated one of the top ramen spots in Tokyo. Three years later Onishi was honored with a Michelin rating. He expanded in 2016, opening two more restaurants in Singapore and now he’s spreading into California.  A San Francisco location is set to open this year, followed by another in Glendale.  

HELL YES — the journey was long, but the reward was delicious.  

THE JOURNEY 

You can’t just walk up to Tsuta.  There’ s a process.  

The Four Seasons concierge told us to be at Tsuta between 7:00 and 8:00 AM!  Hopeful guests put down a 1000 yen ($9 USD) deposit and receive a ticket.  This ticket assigns a time slot between 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM.  At your allotted time, you come back to the restaurant and wait in line again until it’s your turn to sit down.  This can easily take two hours.  

I love ramen, but the whole process seemed a bit much, and I was not waking up at 6:30 AM on the weekend…

So we showed up at 1:00 PM. 

Amazingly, our blind confidence worked!  A miracle occurred — a man stood outside selling green tickets!  After I paid, he said to come back in an hour to wait in line.  Apparently, this is extremely rare but we were in Tokyo during an unbearable heatwave.  People were hiding in air conditioning instead of braving the streets in search of ramen. 

The hour break gave us time to visit a bakery down the street.  Japanese cheese and corn breads were a perfect appetizer, and the air conditioning was deeply appreciated.  

The excitement building, we returned to Tsuta and waited outside for an hour and fifteen minutes.  During this time, a waiter took each group to a vending machine where orders are placed in preparation for the coveted time inside. 

Finally, our name was called and we were escorted inside. 

THE FOOD

The fresh burst of air conditioning felt like a splash of cold water.  I was ecstatic, refreshed and starving! 

The two most popular ramens are shoyu, broth with soy sauce, and shio, broth with salt. I went with shoyu and it was incredible. 

Tsuta prides themselves in the quality of their ingredients.  Using the best tastes the best. The shoyu made with asari clam broth, chicken broth, and soy sauce, courtesy of the Wakayama brewery.  The result is a layered and complex flavor. 

After all the anticipation, I savored my shoyu, but everyone enjoys at their own pace.  Some boys from China sat next to me, slurping like professionals.  They threw their ramen back in a matter of minutes.  I usually enjoy breathing between bites, but they definitely made me feel like a rookie. 

I will be dreaming about Tsuta for a long time and cannot wait for it to open in Glendale (only an hour from me).  Still, there’s just something about food in Japan — the quality, the explosions of flavor, the richness.  In my mind, Japanese food has most other countries beat, making Tsuta the top of the top.  

So go!!  Add it to your bucket list and visit as soon as you can! 

Whats your favorite Japanese dish?